Nfl

Super Bowl XLVII coaches defined by bold moves during run to big game By Randy CovitzThe Kansas City Star (MCT)

NFL head coaches make dozens, maybe hundreds of decisions every day. Who to start, who to promote, who to demote, who to cut, who to keep, how to attack, how to defend, all the way down to whether to kick, receive or defer at the start of the game.

Baltimore's John Harbaugh and San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh each made one critical decision down the stretch of the 2012 season that propelled their teams to a historic showdown between brothers in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3 in New Orleans.

In late November, Jim Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback, decided to permanently make second-year quarterback Colin Kaepernick his starter in place of Alex Smith, who had led the 49ers to the NFC championship game the year before and a 6-2-1 start in 2012.

And in mid-December, with the Ravens mired in a two-game losing streak, John Harbaugh fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and turned play-calling duties over to quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, making him offensive coordinator on an interim basis. Though Caldwell took Indianapolis to the Super Bowl as the Colts' head coach during 2009-11, he had never been a play-caller.

Both were bold moves by coaches whose teams appeared to be postseason bound, but with each having come within a game of reaching the Super Bowl last year, they were aiming to take that next step.

At the time Smith suffered his concussion in a Nov. 11 tie against St. Louis, he was the NFL's third-highest rated passer with a 104.1 rating, and had a league-best 70.2 completion percentage with 13 touchdown passes and five interceptions in 218 attempts.

But Kaepernick made a spectacular debut in a Monday night game against Chicago, leading the 49ers to scores on their first four possessions. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns, and even though Smith was ready to play the following week, Harbaugh stuck with the hot hand, and Kaepernick led the 49ers to a 31-21 win at New Orleans, sealing his status as the starter.

So the 49ers re-tooled their offense around the stronger-armed and speedier Kaepernick, installing the read-option from the pistol formation. Kaepernick finished the regular season 5-2, completing 62.4 percent of his passes with 10 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He was spectacular in playoff wins over Green Bay, when he rushed for an NFL quarterback-record 181 yards and two touchdowns and threw two touchdown passes, and against Atlanta, where he brought the 49ers back from a 17-0 deficit.

"It was not a predetermined move," Harbaugh said of the ascension of Kaepernick, a second-round draft pick from Nevada in 2011. "The decision was made when Alex got hurt. Colin played, played well in his first start . . . came back the next week . . . still felt that week against New Orleans that Colin gave us our best chance to win.

"He was healthier and played well. Then after that, I saw enough really good things â?¦ to have the same faith and trust in Colin that we had shown in Alex. Both are very good quarterbacks. We felt we could win with either quarterback. We're in a great situation having both on our team."

The results weren't as immediate for the Ravens when they changed coordinators following an overtime loss at Washington on Dec. 9. Baltimore closed out the season losing two of the last three games with Caldwell as offensive coordinator and four of their last five overall.

But John Harbaugh got what he wanted from Caldwell in the postseason as the Ravens rolled past Indianapolis, beat Denver in a wild, two-overtime game and upset New England. Caldwell took the wraps off quarterback Joe Flacco, and his bombs-away mentality made the difference, especially at Denver, where Flacco completed touchdown passes of 32, 59, and 70 yards, including the final bomb to Jacoby Jones that sent the game into overtime.

During the Ravens' playoff run, Flacco has completed 51 of 93 passes for 853 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions. He's completed eight passes of 25 or more yards, averaging 16.7 yards per completion. And he hasn't thrown an interception since Dec. 16 against Denver, a streak of 162 passes without a pick.

"It's been fun," Caldwell told reporters after the AFC championship game. "It's been a great learning process for both of us. Joe's gotten to know me pretty well, and I've gotten to know him better. We've only been together a matter of months. It hasn't even been a year yet, so we're still in a growth process."

Their relationship will continue to grow. Harbaugh announced last week that Caldwell had accepted an offer to continue as offensive coordinator on a full-time basis through at least next season.

"It was a move that was the best move at the time, we felt," Harbaugh said. "We said that was the best thing for our football team. All the contributions and all the work that had gone into what we had done before that had gotten us to that point and put us in position to move on from there. To me, it all goes together. It was an important move."

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